“We may be seeing the first woman president. As a Democrat, I am reeling,” said Camille Paglia, the cultural critic. “That was the best political speech I have ever seen delivered by an American woman politician. Palin is as tough as nails.”

Palin has dismissed speculation she might leave Juneau for higher office before her term expires in 2010, saying, “My role as governor is where I can be most helpful right now unless something drastic happens, and I don’t anticipate that right now.”

Nevertheless, John J. Pitney Jr., a political scientist with Claremont McKenna College in California and former analyst for congressional Republicans, said Palin could be an ideal presidential running mate next year.

“What separates her from others is that at a time when Republicans have suffered from the taint of corruption, she represents clean politics,” Pitney said.

“The public stereotype of Republican is a wrinkled old guy taking cash under the table,” he said. “One way for Republicans to break the stereotype is with a female reformer.”

WOW !

UPDATE: Here is a biography from The Anchorage Daily News. I’ve been to Wasilla and it would be the capitol of Alaska but for jealousy by Fairbanks.

I have been a fan of Alaska governor Sarah Palin for some time now. This morning, John McCain announced (or soon will-his campaign has confirmed it) that Sarah Palin will be his VP. For more info on her go here, or here.

A bit of her history:

She resigned in January 2004 as head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission after complaining to the office of Governor Frank Murkowski and to state Attorney General Gregg Renkes about ethical violations by another commissioner, Randy Ruedrich, who was also Republican state chairman.

State law barred Palin from speaking out publicly about ethical violations and corruption. But she was vindicated later in 2004 when Ruedrich, who’d been reconfirmed as state chairman, agreed to pay a $12,000 fine for breaking state ethics laws. She became a hero in the eyes of the public and the press, and the bane of Republican leaders.

Then, after more examples of Alaska government nepotism and corruption,

In 2006, she didn’t hesitate. She ran against Gov. Murkowski, who was seeking a second term despite sagging poll ratings, in the Republican primary. In a three-way race, Palin captured 51 percent and won in a landslide. She defeated former Democratic governor Tony Knowles in the general election, 49 percent to 41 percent. She was one of the few Republicans anywhere in the country to perform above expectations in 2006, an overwhelmingly Democratic year. Palin is unabashedly pro life.

She is called “Sarah Barracuda” in Alaska;

In the roughly three years since she quit as the state’s chief regulator of the oil industry, Palin has crushed the Republican hierarchy (virtually all male) and nearly every other foe or critic. Political analysts in Alaska refer to the “body count” of Palin’s rivals. “The landscape is littered with the bodies of those who crossed Sarah,” says pollster Dave Dittman, who worked for her gubernatorial campaign. It includes Ruedrich, Renkes, Murkowski, gubernatorial contenders John Binkley and Andrew Halcro, the three big oil companies in Alaska, and a section of the Daily News called “Voice of the Times,” which was highly critical of Palin and is now defunct.

Look out out Joe Biden ! She is just the sort of person to appeal to McCain and to give fits to ethically challenged folks like Biden.

In short, Palin can legitimately claim the maverick reformist credentials that McCain himself has long since lost. Her pro-life record helps McCain with the Republican base, her gender might lure away a few Hillary bitter-enders, and her youth goes a little way towards compensating one of McCain’s major weaknesses. Palin also manages the Obama-esque feat of commanding a great deal of popularity among people who don’t really know what she stands for–Dave Dittman, an Anchorage-based pollster, who has done a lot of polling and thinking about this, pointed out to me several months ago that Palin was maintaining a 85 percent approval rating among Alaskan voters even when her policies (particularly a natural gas line deal that has been a signature ambition of her administration) polled far short of that, and even when voters had trouble accurately describing her political leanings. She also pretty much guarantees a McCain victory in her home state, where Obama has been polling astoundingly well (Alaska hasn’t gone for a Democrat since Lyndon Johnson).

Then, of course, there are the moonbat comments:

Interesting choice, but the commentary seems to be mixed on this. So, let’s see what the imagination brings to this:

1. Does she have any Rovian connections? It would seem odd to me that McSame would toe the Rove line on every issue to this point and then side step on the first “big” decision. Her narrative making the rounds is that she is a more reliable maverick than the trademarked one, having served up some party officials to investigations. The question I see arising from that is: in a party that values loyalty above all else as the Rovian GOP does, can the party establishment and the party $$$ get behind Palin without holding something back? I don’t think so.

2. My feeling for some time now is that the VP pick will determine what the GOP does. Palin’s “not ready to lead” target on her back means she will have to show clear skills in judgment, which seem to be problematic when she gets someone fired [yes, it is under investigation] because that man was divorcing her sister in the frequently ugly fashion. So, my prediction is that the GOP is NOT going to run either McSame or Palin in November, but a Manchurian candidate who will be sprung on the electorate in October complete with the full blessing of Rove and Cheney.

3. Remember, Palin has no detectable Rovian ties and has bucked the party. Cheney, W, Rove and the rest of the cabal can tolerate NO REAL INVESTIGATION of their activities for the last eight years, which means no Obama presidency, which will be forced by the blogosphere to dig even if the DLC lets it go. It also means no one on the GOP side can be selected who is off the reservation [Palin, McSame has been co-opted] because the political point scoring is too easy when Rove meets the bus.

4. It is not out of the realm of possibilities that the election is delayed ( = cancelled) for “national security” concerns, which will be stage managed by Rovian operatives. The event will probably not be instigated by Rove’s crew, but given the world volatility, I’m sure someone will do something stupid to give Rove a reason. The delay will last as long as it takes to keep everyone out of jail, which may be a very long time.

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